How does it work?
Frequently Asked Questions
about what we do
Does talking make a difference?
Our answer is: absolutely! But the important thing is how you do it.
"Let's Talk Democracy" stands are spread all over the country – in Sderot and Jerusalem, in Beit Shemesh, Ramla and Ramat Gan, in Or Akiva, Yokneam, Haifa, etc., etc., etc. When you go everywhere and talk to everyone – you hear all sorts of opinions. And one thing that all the Israelis share: everyone is worried about the current situation. And everyone wants to talk. But if everyone wants to talk – why aren't we talking? Why do we all feel like we nobody wants to hear us? Israel is mired in a deep crisis of faith. People have no faith in the government; no faith in the media; and no faith in each other. Without a basic foundation of trust, talking is useless. Without trust, everything we say is met with suspicion. This prevents us from truly listening to each other, or making room for any point of view other than the one we brought with us to the conversation. But trust is something that can be built – with mutual acquaintance, listening and a substantive conversation about shared intentions, feelings, needs and interests. It's not easy. It takes time, courage, patience, and determination. But it works. And on the basis of that trust, we can begin to have a real conversation about the interests that we share and what we can all do to advance them.
Why talk in the street?
Face to Face: Breaking Down the Walls between "Us" and "Them"
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Because "Let's Talk Democracy" seeks to offer the complete opposite of what is currently happening on television and social media. On the street, you can have a direct, face to face conversation - not between two "camps" but between two people.
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Because the street allows us to initiate a conversation with everyone, and not just with people who are already interested and looking for a place to talk.
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Because tthis approach allows us to come to the same places again and again, to talk with the same people more than once, and to become a permanent feature of the public space.
What we do
First - We listen
.To have a real conversation, the first thing you need to do is listen
Too many people today feel that no one is really seeing or listening to them. They feel that the things that matter to them are not seen as important or even worth discussing by the government or by other groups in Israeli society.
Let’s Talk Democracy volunteers challenge that feeling by starting with something simple: asking people about themselves. We ask: "What do you think and feel about what is happening in Israel?"; "What matters to you? What worries you? What gives you hope?"
First, we listen to what they have to say. Then we let the conversation grow from there.
And what do we talk about?
We talk about life
About work and our children. About the cost of living and the husband serving in the reserves. About religion, faith, tradition and morality. About the anger, hurt and fears that color how we see and understand each other. And in general - about how we have experienced the past, what concerns us today and what our hopes are for the future.
Israel is currently divided into multiple separate groups that know almost nothing about each other. What they don't know, they fill in with assumptions, stereotypes, and images from the media. Talking with people in the street, we have learned that reality is much more diverse and complex than what we see in the media, and the people we talk to have also found that we are not what they may have expected us to be.
Conversations about our personal lives help to break down preconceived ideal on both sides. They also build a foundation of familiarity, goodwill and trust, which allows people talk about sensitive topics without feeling that their views, feelings and identity are under attack, and must be defended at all costs.
And how does all this connect to democracy?
Conversation is the backbone of democracy
Democracy is, first and foremost, a way for people to live together. And to do this, they must be able to talk to one another. Conversations are the means by which we set priorities, find solutions, and come to
mutually acceptable agreements.
When candidates run for public office, they seek the public out and talk to them, at gatherings in people’s homes, on the street, and in other settings. That is a conversation.
When activists want to effect change in the community, such as renovating a playground or getting a public swimming pool built in town, they need rally the support of their fellow citizens. Together, they can convince the local government to invest in the project. That is also a conversation.
When a public official says something inappropriate, and it causes a public uproar, that too is a conversation.
Conversation is also an important means of dealing with disagreements and social challenges. Israel has no shortage of these, so converstation is a skill that we all need to master.
What does a conversation about democracy look like?
When both sides feel that their views are heard, respected, and acknowledged as legitimate, it opens the door to conversation about many issues that shape how Israeli society and Israeli democracy function.
One goal of our conversations is to challenge the boundaries of Israeli identity politics and encourage all of "us to think differently about where we draw the lines between "us" and "them.
Another goal is to ask questions that challenge underlying assumptions. We encourage the people we talk with to stop and think about what they say and think, and about the thought process that led them to say and think these things.
We ask questions like: Is "unity" the same as "uniformity"?
What exactly do we mean when we say "left" and "right"?
What is "democracy"? What does this term mean? What elements does it include and why are they important? How do they relate to our daily lives and to the future we want?
What should we be expecting from our elected representatives? And from ourselves as citizens?
Come see for yourself!
Help us build a better future - one conversation at a time.
